Machine for sharpening safety-razor blades, &amp;c.



A. L. HATFIELD. MACHINE FOR SHARPENING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES, 6w. APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1913.

1,124,733,, Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

HE NORRIS PETERS CO PHOTO LITHO l'zASHlNL ON. )3

A. L. HATFIELD. MACHINE FOR SHARPENING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES, 6m

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1913. I 1 24,733., Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Fig. 3.

l G AWL A. L. HATFIELD. MACHINE FOR SHARPBNING SAFETY RAZOR BLADES, &o. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27. 1913.

1,124,733.- Patented Jan.12,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. FHOTOLITHO., WASHINGTON 11 n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW L. HATFIELD, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR SHARPENING SAFETY-RAZOR BLADES, 8w.

Application filed September 27, 1913.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW L. HATFIELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Sharpening Safety- Razor Blades, &c., of which the following is a specification.

The objects of the invention are to pro vide a novel and highly eiiicient machine for sharpening thin blades of that general character which are commonly employed in connection with safety razors, the said machine being automatic in its action and being adapted to be driven by power; to provide novel means for manipulating the blades and grinding elements so as to quickly and uniformly sharpen the blade; to provide an improved construction which admits of the blades being quickly placed in ope1= ative position or removed therefrom; to

provide adjustable means for rocking the blades so as to alternately apply them to two adjacent rolls; to provide novel means for supporting the blades and allowing them to tilt transversely of their edge; to provide a blade holder adapted to receive blades of different makes, and which is conveniently removable from the machine; to secure simplicity of construction and operation, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following deseription.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine for sharpening safety razor blades constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line A-A. of Fig. 1; Fig; 1 is a detail perspective view of the plate for the blade holders; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through one end of the same mounted on the rocking carrier; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view showing a certain grooved guide and locking notch of the blade carrying plates; Fig. 7 is a detail cross section of the roll-shifting cam showing the engagement of the same with the roll-shifting lever, and also showing said cam as fast on its shaft insteadof loose as in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 1s a perspective view of one of the blade holders; Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view on line B-B of Fig. 8, and Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

Serial No. 792,077.

vided with feet 2 which may be secured to any suitable base 3, while the upper ends of the standards are connected by a cross bar 4. 1

In the drawings I have shown the base 3 elevated by legs 5, 5 to a convenient height from the floor to bring the various mechanlsms requiring attention at a convenient height to the operator, but obviously the standards 1, 1 might be placed upon any suitable table or support of any kind without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. 1

An upper set of rolls 6 and 7, and also a lower set of rolls 8 and 9 are mounted between the standards 1, the rolls of each set having a spaced and parallel relation and revolving in opposite directions. Each of the rolls is formed with trunnions 10, the various trunnions passing loosely through bearing sleeves 11 in the standards 1 and the length of the rolls being slightly less than the distance between the standards so that the rolls can have a longitudinal as well as a rotary movement. This longitudinal movement is in many cases very important, since it prevents nicks or the like in the blades from wearing annular ridges in the rolls so as to decrease the efliciency thereof.

The top roll 6 of the upper pair of rolls is provided upon one side of the machine with a pulley 12 which is connected by a belt 13 to a similar pulley 1 1 rigid with the top roll 8 of the lower set of rolls. The roll 8 is also provided with a second pulley 15 engaging a belt 16 which also passes around a pulley 17 upon a drive shaft 18 which may receive power from any suitable source, and is preferably located under the grinding and sharpening device, as indicated by Fig. 2.

In the drawings, for illustrative purposes, I have shown an electric motor 19 mounted on the under side of the base 3 as the source of power, but obviously the drive shaft 18 may be actuated from any source desired, which may or may not be affixed to the base according to the convenience of the user.

A pulley 20 on the motor drives the shaft 18 by means of a pulley 21 thereon connected to said motor pulley by a belt 22.

On the opposite side of the machine from the ends of the rolls above described, the lower roll 7 of the upper set of rolls is provided with a pulley 23 which is connected by a belt 2 1 to a similar pulley 25 upon the lower roll 9 of the lower set of rolls. This lower roll 9 is also provided with a pulley 26 which is connected by a belt 27 to a pulley upon the drive shaft 18.

It is to be noted that I drive the rolls in alternate pairs, the alternate top ones being driven I in unison, and it is preferable to drive thetwo sets ofjalternate rolls in opposite directions. This result I obtain by crossing either one of the belts from the drive shaft 18, as for instance the belt 16 operating the upper alternatepair of rolls. An eccentric shaft 28 is journaled upon the standards 1 near the lower ends thereof, the said eccentric shaft receiving power in somesuitable manner, as by means of the belt 29 passing over a pulley 30 thereon and driven from a pulley .011 a counter shaft 32 below the base in turn driven at reduced speed by a pulley 33 thereon from a pulley 34: on thedriving shaft 18 by means of a belt 35. At the opposite end of the eccentric shaft 28, from the driving pulley 30 thereon, the said eccentric shaft 28 projects beyond the standard 1 and has loosely or rotatably mounted thereon, a cam sleeve 36 having a cam roove 37 in itself.

A roll shiftlng lever 38 is pivoted at an intermediate point in its length, as indicated 'at' 39,upon a bracket 40 projecting from one of the standards 1. The lower end of this lever is provided with a projection which is received within the cam groove 37 of the sleeve 36,,while'the upper end of the lever is notched at 41 and loosely receives a pin 12 upon a bar 413 connecting the trunnions of the various rolls. This bar, is provided with bearingsleeves 4A which receive the trunnions and are fitted between collarstfi thereon so that the rolls will be moved. longitudinally as the bar is forced toward and away from the standard 1. As the cam sleeve 36 is rotated, the bar 43 is reciprocated back and forth so as to move the various rolls longitudinally and cause them to operate uniformly upon the razor blades. As above mentioned, this longitudinal movement of the rolls also has the advantage of preventing any nicks in the blades from wearing grooves or ridges upon the rolls and decreasing the eliiciency thereof. For driving said cam sleeve, I preferably provide a pulley wheel 46, fast with respect to the cam sleeve and driven by means of a belt 47 from a pulley 48 on the counter shaft 32 below the base.

It will be. obvious that when so desired, the eccentric shaft 28 and cam sleeve 36 might be secured one to the other, as shown in Fig. 7, but as it is frequently desirable to stop the eccentric shaft 28 from operation and still operate the cam sleeve, it is preferable to construct the machine as above described.

Arocking blade carrier 49 is provided for each pair of the rolls, the said blade carriers being shown in the present instance as provided at opposite ends thereof with upwardly extending ears 50 which are apertured to receive pins 51 projecting inwardly toward each other from the two opposite standards 1, it being understood that the rocking blade carrier 4:9 is supported longitudinally between the standards 1, 1 upon the. pins 51.

Set screws 55 may be inserted from the front of the standards to engage the pins 51 and prevent their inadvertent withdrawal.

A blade carrying plate 56 is detachably mounted .upon each of the rocking carriers 19, the said plates being shown as provided at opposite ends with means for adjustably securing said plates to their respective rocking carriers. Such adjustment is preferably toward and away from the rolls and comprises a slot and bolt connection as disclosed in the drawings. Whether the slot be in the blade carrying plate 56 or the rocking carr er 19 is immaterial, and at one end of the rocking carrier (see Fig. 5) I provide a transverse slot 57 through which extends a bolt 58 from below, projecting upwardly and screwing into the blade carrying plate 56.

At the other end of the blade carrying plate I have shown a transverse slot 59 through which extends a clamping bolt 60 from above and screwing downwardly into the rocking carrier.

Each of the blade carrying plates is provlded at suitable intervals with upwardly pro ecting lugs or cars 61 which are arranged in pairs and provided with axially coincident holes 62 through themselves and extending in a longitudinal direction of the blade carrying plate. For each pair of these lugs or ears 61' there is provided a p vot pin 63 adapted to extend between said lugs and carried in the holes 62 therein for swiveling the blade holder subsequently described. Said pivot pins are each preferably bent at right angles to provide a handle 64: convenient to the operator.

Between the several pairs of lugs, though not between the lugs comprising a pair, are channel guides 65 each having sides of itself projecting upward on either side of the pivot pin substantially half the thickness of the pin and closely adjacent thereto. Between said sides the guides provide a bottom on which the pins may rest.

It will be noted that while the handle portion 64: projects from the pin between the sidesof the channel guides, said handle is maintained substantially perpendicular.

At the position of the pin in which the handle is slid over against the lug through which the pin projects as far as it will go, the side toward the front of the machine of the channel groove 65 is notched as at 66 so that the handle portion 64: may be swung down into a horizontal position and prevented from slipping out longitudinally of the groove because of the notch.

, equivalent means 69 substantially midway of said spring strip. The ends of the spring strip may be deflected upwardly as occasion may require by means of screws 70 passing upwardly through forwardly and rearwardly projecting wings 71 on the front and back longitudinal edges of the blade carrying plate 56, between the upwardly extending lugs 61 of a pair. Obviously by adjusting these screws, which engage the springs about midway from center to ends, the tension in the springs may be adjusted as the discretion of the operator dictates.

One end of said spring plate may have upwardly extending fingers or guides 72 to receive and guide the blade holder, said guides in this instance being shown on the forward end of the spring. Said blade holder, shown 'more especially in Figs. 8 to 13, comprises a pair of flat jaws 73, 7 3 normally held apart at their free ends by their own resiliency or otherwise and secured at their other ends to a handle 74. It will be appreciated that when mounted in position, the jaws of the holder project toward and partially between the oppositely rotating pair of rolls, whereas the handle projects toward the operator.

A suitable aperture 7 5 is provided through the handle about half way of the length of the holder to swivel the same on the pivot pin 63 between the pair of lugs and over the spring plate. Longitudinally of the handle, the aperture 75 is preferably of uniform width so as to fit the pivot pin nicely, but in transverse cross section the opening at either end of the aperture is of greater extent than at the center (see Fig. 11). In this manner, the blade hlder 1s adapted to twist a limited amount about its own longitudinal axis and swing up and down but not sidewise. This enables the blades to readily accommodate themselves to the rolls so that the rolls always act upon the blade in a uniform manner.

In use, the blade holder is inserted be tween the two lugs 61, 61 comprising a pair on the blade-carrying plate and the pivot pin 63 pushed home through the aperture 75 in the blade holder and the handle portion of the pin then turned down into horizontal position to prevent its accidental withdrawal. Then the blade holder carrying the blade is mounted in this manner, it is desirable to rock it up and down so the edge of the blade will alternatel engage the periphery of the rolls. To e ect such rocking in an automatic manner I provide rearwardly projecting arms 89 on each of the blade carriers connected by a link 90 for causing the two blade carriers to rock together. The lower blade carrier, as indicated more clearly in Fig. 3, is provided with a slidably adjustable arm 91 here shown as projecting forwardly from the blade carrier wherein it is held by a set screw 92. Below this adjustable arm 91 and on the eccentric shaft 28 in fixed relation thereto is an eccentric 93 about which operates an eccentric strap 94: from which projects an arm or pitman 95 pivotally connected to the adjustable arm 91. By this means, as the eccentric shaft rotates the blade carriers are simultaneously rocked back and forth. In so rocking it is to be understood that the blade holders bring the blades into alternate contact with the rolls and the spring strips 68 hold them yieldingly in position against either roll.

In operation, the blades to be sharpened are ground first upon the lower set of rolls 8, 9, and are finished upon the upper set of rolls 6, 7 which are of the different character required for honing or finishing. This means that each blade in its holder is inserted first at the lower set of rolls and then removed and inserted again for the upper set of rolls. By my improved construction, either one holder and its blade can be thus shifted and manipulated or a plurality of holders can be handled at the same time. This is effected by means of the plates 56, upon each of which I have shown mountings for six individual blade holders, although the number might of course be varied as desired. By removing this plate 56 from the lower carrier 49 and placing it upon the upper carrier 49, six blades can he handled at once. Or, if desired, any individual holder can be removed from a plate 56 upon the lower carrier 19 and inserted upon the plate of the upper carrier. Great convenience and facility in the work of sharpening is thus secured.

It may be desirable under some conditions to have a portion of one pair of the rolls constitute a grinding element for removing nicks from the blade so as not to wear the remainder of the roll intended for sharpening the blade. For this purpose I may provide one end of the lower two rolls each with a grinding portion 96 to which may be applied the blade in one of the holders, but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to a grinding portion for just one holder as it is obvious that the grinding portion could be of any desired length and for any number of holders.

Although I have shown my invention used for sharpening safety-razor blades, it may obviously be employed for sharpening any kind of blades to which it can be adapted.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is: e a

1. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll, of a blade carrier having opposite lugs perforated in alinement with each other, a blade holder between said lugs having a transverse opening in alinement with said perforations, a removable pin extending through said perforations and opening fitting one and being verticallyloos'e in the other, and means for operating said carrier.

2. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll, of a blade carrier having opposite lugs perforated in alinement with each other, a blade holder between said lugs having a transverse perforation in alinement with said perforations in the lugs, said perforation in the holder being enlarged at its opposite ends both upward and downward with respect to the carrier, a removable pin adapted to extend through said lugs and holder, and means for operating said carrier.

3. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll, of a blade carrier having opposite lugs perforated in alinement with each other, a blade holder between said lugs having a transverse opening in alinement with said perforations, a removable pin adapted to. extend through said lugs and holder, means for locking said pin at both ends of its range of longitudinal movement, and means for operating the carrier.

4. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll, of a blade carrier having opposite lugs perfo'- rated in alinement with each other, a blade holder between said lugs having a transverse opening in alinement with said perforations, a pin extending through said lugs and holder and having one endoutside said lugs bent at substantially right angles, a grooved guide for said pin outside the lug having its lateral wall notched to receive said bent end and lock the pin against 10ngitudinal movement, and means for operating said carrier.

In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll, of a blade carrier having oppositelugs perforated in alinement with each other, a blade holder between said lugs having a transverse opening in alinement with said perforations, a pin adapted to extend through said lugs and holder and having one end outside said lugs bent at, substantially right angles, a grooved guide for said pin outside the lugs having its lateral wall. notched adjacentsaid lugs to receive said bent end of the pin and lock it against longitudinal movement, a stop at the other end of the grooved guide, and means for operating said carrier. 5

6. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination, with opposite standards, a blade sharpening roll between said standards adapted to rotate and to move longitudinally, a rocking blade carrier, a vblade holder for said blade carrier, a shaft between said standards, means for transmitting motion from' said shaft to said blade holder, a cam on said shaft free to rotate thereon, means connecting said roll to said cam to shift said roll, and separate means for driving saidshaft and said cam.

7. In a blade sharpening machine, the combination with a sharpening roll and means, for operating the same, of a blade carrier adapted to rock and cause a blade to engage n d en ge said, sharpenin roll, said blade carrier providing means whereby the blade may be applied to said rolls with a resilient pressure, a rod adapted to be reciprocated, eccentric means forreciprocating said rod, an arm projecting from said carrier and pivotally connected to said said im b n adi ably slida n said carrier and projecting therefrom, and said rod being adjustable insaid eccentric means whereby the projecting portions of said rod and arm may be varied and admit varying the pressure with which the blade is applied to the roll.

ANDREW L. HATFIELD.

lVitnesses HOWARD P. KI G, MILDRED E. Bnoons.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for f ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

